Strange Loop

"Post-PC Computing" is not a Vision

It's increasing obvious that we are in the midst of a transformation of computing that will be as significant and disruptive as the emergence of personal computing was thirty years ago. There are technical advancements that enable this change, just like there were for personal computing. But this time it seems less clear where the changes are taking us. The PC era wasn't just the result of random-walk application of emerging technologies. It was a revolution that was shaped by a shared vision. Where's our vision? Is there a goal that is shaping the current revolution? Is it really just about mobility, clouds, HTML, content, and "not PCs"? Change is roaring at us and that makes this a great time for innovative technologists. But let's find our shared vision and see if we can be intentional about using our innovations to shape the next era of computing.

Allen Wirfs-Brock

Mozilla

Allen Wirfs-Brock is a Mozilla Research Fellow and currently spends most of his time thinking about the future of the JavaScript programming language. He was project editor for ECMAScript 5, the latest edition of the JavaScript standard. He's a reformed Smalltalker who was a technical and entrepreneurial leader during the slow rise and rapid decline of Smalltalk as a mainstream programming language. He's mostly been a programming language implementor but has done things ranging from designing virtual memory hardware to writing business applications using RPG.